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Saruman
Saruman the White, The other four who were chosen were Aiwendil (Radagast), Alatar and Pallando (the Blue Wizards), and Olórin (Gandalf). Curumo was appointed overall leader of the group. Arrival in Middle-earth The five wizards arrived at the Grey Havens in the west of Eriador around the year 1000. Only the keeper of the havens, Círdan the Shipwright, knIn the year TA 2759, Saruman settled in Isengard with the permission of the Steward of Gondor, Beren, although he settled only as Warden of the Tower and representative of the Steward (the stronghold had by then been abandoned by Gondor). There he became important in the informal alliance defending the west of Middle-earth. In the tower of Isengard, Orthanc, he also found one of the remainiscape and Saruman used his Voice to persuade the Lord of the Nazgûl that he did not know the Ring's location but that Gandalf did and they should seek him nearby. After the Nazgûl heard this they went back on the main road rode along and instead found Grima Wormtoungue (who went to tell Saruman that Gandalf had been to Edoras) who revealed that Saruman was hiding his knowledge of the Shire from them. By another account, Saruman only discovered that Gandalf had escaped when the Nazgûl arrived, he has been, according to this account, about to beg Gandalf for forgiveness and help, only to find him gone. He pretended that Gandalf was still there and had just told him the location of the Shire. The Nazgûl later learned that Saruman knew far more than he had revealed. On their way to the Shire, the Nazgûl met one of Saruman's Shire spies, from whom they got detailed maps of the Shire made by Saruman. They sent the spy back to the Shire after warning him that he was now in the service of Mordor (the Orc-like man in the Inn of the Prancing Pony). Believing that he would find no pity from either quarter (a false assumption, since he was later offered pardon by Gandalf); Saruman now put all efforts into obtaining the One Ring for himself. Not all of these efforts ever became known, but they included sending spies to waylay Frodo Baggins on his flight from the Shire (Bill Ferny in Bree), attacking Rohan outright with Uruk-hai, and dispatching raiding parties of Uruk-hai accompanied by Moria Orcs on likely routes the Fellowship of the Ring might take through Rohan to go towards Gondor. One of those parties captured Peregrin Took and Meriadoc Brandybuck and shot Boromir with twenty arrows when he tried to defend the Hobbits. This led Aragorn, Legolas, and Gimli on a search which eventually led to the Battle of Helms Deep as well as the Destruction of Isengard by the Ents under Treebeard, leading to the end of Saruman's reign of power in the north. Power Destroyed from the Pinnacle of Orthanc (Extended Edition).]]Saruman's plans failed, and he suffered a series of setbacks. Saruman's Shire network did not capture Frodo Baggins, and Éomer destroyed his only partially successful raiding party. His invasion of Rohan ended in disaster with the utter defeat of his army at the Battle of the Hornburg. Leaving Isengard undefended resulted in its destruction at the hands of the Ents (Saruman had underestimated the Ents' anger and strength). Confined to the Orthanc and with his servants scattered or killed, Saruman made one final unsuccessful attempt to turn Théoden and Gandalf over to evil. The latter then offered Saruman a chance for redemption, which involved surrendering his staff and the Keys of Orthanc as a pledge. Saruman had a moment of doubt but in the end pride, anger, and hate won over and he refused the chance of redemption. Gandalf, who had returned from death to supplant Saruman, as the White and the head of the Istari, expelled Saruman from the order and broke his staff. Saruman also lost the palantír of Orthanc when Gríma Wormtongue threw it off a balcony of Orthanc, undecided about which he hated more, Saruman or Gandalf, and hitting neither. Final Fall "There is only one lord of the rings, only one who can bend it to his will. And he does not share power!" '' -''Gandalf speaking to Saruman, The Fellowship of The Ring Left out of the final stages of the War of the Ring, Saruman eventually managed to persuade the Ents who kept him captive into letting him leave Isengard after he met the conditions of handing over the Keys of Orthanc. He then went to the Shire, which his agent Lotho Sackville-Baggins had brought under control. Spending his final days as a small-time criminal master in Hobbiton known as Sharkey, where he enslaved the Hobbits, he was eventually betrayed and killed by his own servant Grima Wormtongue on November 3, 3019, after the Battle of Bywater, where the Hobbits had Saruman's thugs surrounded with many Took bowmen led by Frodo Baggins. Frodo offered one last chance to Saruman and Wormtongue to surrender. When Wormtongue decided to accept this, Saruman still refused and proceeded to beat Wormtongue to the ground. Following this, a furious Wormtongue took out a knife and slit Saruman's throat. In a cruel twist of fate, the great traitor of Middle-earth was himself betrayed by a mere mortal man. Legacy After his departure from Orthanc, King Elessar entered the tower with the intent of re-ordering that realm. Inside, Elessar's men found many treasures that Saruman had conned off of King Théoden. There was a secret closet that could only be found with the aid of Gimli the dwarf; it contained the original Elendilmir, which had presumed to be lost forever when Isildur perished in the Gladden Fields, as well as a golden chain which was presumed to have once borne the One Ring. After Death Saruman, being a Maia, did not truly die. His spirit separated from his body much like Sauron's after the Downfall of Númenor. As an incorporeal spirit, he should have been called to the Halls of Mandos, but the tale implies that he was barred from returning. Tolkien indicated that his spirit was left naked, powerless and wandering, never to return to Middle-earth: "Whereas Curunir was cast down, and utterly humbled, and perished at last by the hand of an oppressed slave; and his spirit went whither-soever it was doomed to go, and to Middle-earth, whether naked or embodied, came never back" Names *''Curumo'' is the Quenya name for Saruman. Its Tengwar spelling is , and its IPA pronunciation is . *''Curunír'' is the Sindarin name for Saruman the White. It roughly translates to mean "man of skill". Curunir was the original name given to Saruman as the leader of the Istari, or Wizards, who first came to Middle-earth to combat the evils of Sauron. Late in the Third Age around the time of the War of the Ring, this name was less known and rarely used save among the Elves and even rarely used by them except for their leaders, such as Elrond in Rivendell, Celeborn and Galadriel in Lothlórien, and Círdan at the Grey Havens. *''Saruman ''as called byknowledge of the Rings of Power that led to his downfall, as he became enamored of the power of the rings, and particularly the One Ring. In Ralph Bakshi's animated film, he sends a swirling stream of magical fire from Isengard to Helm's Deep to blow apart the ramparts and walls of Helms Deep. #In Peter Jackson's film trilogy, Saruman's staff of power is a replica of his own tower of Orthanc, with a white crystal set between the spires. As a talisman of his authority, it is also used as a walking stick. Saruman is seen using is staff to duel with Gandalf the Grey, cast lighting on the mountain of Caradhras and to blast a fireball on Gandalf the White. Gandalf destroyed the staff effortlessly during this confrontation. (the later is only seen in the Return of the King extended edition). Portrayal in Adaptations In Ralph Bakshi's 1978 animated film of The Lord of the Rings, Fraser Kerr provided the voice of Saruman. At one point in that film's development, film executives thought that the names "Saruman" and "Sauron" were too similar, and would confuse the audience, and decided that Saruman should be renamed "Aruman". This decision was eventually reversed, but some references to "Aruman" remained in the finished film. The dialogue of Bakshi's film retained Saruman's adoption of the title "Saruman of Many Colours", and the character was dressed in red. Peter Howell played Saruman in BBC Radio's 1981 serialisation of'' ''The Lord of the Rings (1981 radio series). In Peter Jackson's The Lord of the Rings film trilogy, Saruman was played by Sir Christopher Lee. In the films, Saruman is portrayed as acting as Sauron's servant, downplaying the idea that Saruman was independently seeking the Ring. Jackson's films do not include the title "Saruman of Many Colours", referring to him only as "Saruman the White". The film trilogy also did not include the Scouring of the Shire, but the extended DVD version does depict Saruman being killed by Gríma Wormtongue in Isengard, after his encounter with Gandalf and Théoden. In the film, Gríma stabs Saruman in the back rather than cutting his throat (allegedly to appease the censors) causing him to fall on a spiked wheel below the tower of Orthanc. Then, the machine begins to turn, sliding the body of Saruman down into the watery depths. While many fans have criticized the one-sided portrayal of Saruman in the films, Sir Christopher Lee's performance has been praised and was generally well received. Lee is the only cast member to have met J.R.R. Tolkien. Sir Christopher Lee reprises his role as Saruman in Peter Jackson's live action Hobbit trilogy. He had expressed interest in voicing Smaug the dragon, but the role ended up going to Benedict Cumberbatch. Video Games The Batte for Middle Earth I, II and ROTWK The evil campaign in BFME begins with Isengard's betrayal and then continues with Saruman's conquest of Rohan signified by the fall of Helm's Deep and the deaths of Theoden and Eomer. In BFME II and it's expansion ROTWK Saruman does not take part in the campaign since BFME II shows the War in the North. While ROTWK is before Saruman's arrival in Middle Earth, in all games however, he does appear as the main hero for Isengard in skirmish battles. Saruman starts off with the standard wizard blast power which can destroy an entire battalion of infantry (Without armor upgrades) His second ability was a fireball, very useful for blasting away heroes and flyers. His third power was called "Wormtounge" this ability allows Saruman to gain control of units with the power of his voice (Note: This power was temporary the units will return to their original faction after a minute or so. However if the player commands the controlled unit to attack and destroy and enemy building the unit remains in Saruman's possession) His next power was Speechcraft this allows friendly units to gain a major boost in experience. His final power was Lightning Blast, in which Saruman casts down a mighty lightning strike that can decimate infantry (With armor upgrades). The Lord of the Rings: Conquest In one of the early missions of the game, Isengard is attacked by the Ents and Rohan soldiers once captured are set free to help reclaim Isengard for the forces of light and overthrow Saruman and his forces. Later in the mission, the player takes control of Gandalf, as he is lead up through the stairs inside the tower of Orthanc and confronts Saruman in a duel, the same setting as seen in "The Fellowship of the Ring", however this time Gandalf is on an equal level of power if not stronger than Saruman. Gandalf succeeds and Saruman is killed. However during the evil campaign Sauron reclaims the ring and Saruman is resurrected. Later Saruman is sent with a large army to retake the frail city of Minas Tirith, Saruman is at the front line of the evil force breaking through the ranks of Gondorian soldiers as he reaches out to complete his objective of destroying (burning) the white tree and does so (this fulfilling the vision Pippin had seen). Later we see Saruman at Weathertop, where Aragorn with the aid of Gondor (Rohan unknown) and the eagles making a last stand against the forces of evil, standing in the way of the shire. Saruman is sent to Kill Aragorn, who stands at the peak of Weathertop waiting. Saruman succeeds and killing Aragorn and the force moves out to destroy the shire. In the Game Sarumans Staff is the same as the Mouth of Saurons, it could be that the Mouth of Sauron had one made similar, or that Saruman was resurrected with the staff, this however is unclear. Sarumans specialty in the game is the area attack, where he will strike the staff against the floor and punch the ground sending out two shock waves, much more powerful and causing more damage than the standard mage. His melee attack is also quick and swift, and his magic and glow of the staff is purple. The Lord of the Rings Online In The Lord of the Rings Online, Saruman can be seen inside the Tower of Orthanc, both during the "Epic Quest" involving Isengard and the "instances" set inside and under the Tower, in the depths. He can also be seen once in the Dunlending village of Avardin. Lego The Lord of the Rings: The Video Game In the game, Saruman is a playable character with unique abilities. Saruman's staff can levitate specific Lego objects, provide light in dark places, and shoot energy bolts. External links * de:Saruman es:Saruman fr:Saroumane it:Saruman nl:Saruman pl:Saruman ru:Саруман Category:Maiar Category:Istari Category:Wizards Category:Villains Category:The Hobbit Characters Category:The Lord of the Rings Characters Category:The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (film) Characters Category:The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (film) Characters Category:The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (film) Characters Category:Servants of Sauron Category:Characters that have appeared in the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings Category:The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Characters Category:The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug Characters Category:The Hobbit: There and Back Again Characters